Attitudes to information technology in health care professions

The purpose of this paper is to explore attitudes towards IT among various categories of health care staff; health care professions. We will identify problem areas that may be the reasons for why different attitudes among different professions at a healthcare organisation exist, and subsequently we will analyse how this may have impact on how to make sense of IT use. The research question is: What factors may explain differences regarding attitudes to IT among different professions in a health care organisation? The paper reports from a particular study of the “NU” healthcare organisation in west Sweden. The results reveal two main problem areas: i) the infrastructural and; ii) the socio-organisational. These are discussed as analytical implications for bridging the gaps between different professions in health care organisations

Survey of health informatics education in Finland in 2017

The European Union and the USA collaborate in developing the skills of the application of information technology in the health care workforce. A part of this activity is a project which studies the gaps in the present education and proposes methods of filling these gaps. The objective of this paper is to identify the existing IT related education to the health care work force in Finland. A secondary objective was to get an impression of the experience and attitudes of the members of this workforce about health IT education. This paper presents the results of the survey of how information technology is educated to the students of the health care professions in Finland in the year 2017. In addition to literature search including also the study guides of many major health care professional education organizations, 24 telephone interviews of health care professionals in different fields in Finland were made. The results show that although basic information technology education is often available at every level of education, it is expected that the health care professionals learn to use the health information systems during their training periods or later in working life. The interviews showed that the given education varied considerably and some of the personnel had received no or only a little education on IT during studies. As the amount and quality of on-the-job information technology education varies, many health care professionals are not able to fully benefit from the information systems if their general feeling is that they just “survive” from daily activities with them. The results lead to suggest that the health professional degrees should contain at least a minimal amount of relevant health IT education which is tested with an exam and that the present health care workforce should receive ear-marked in-service training in the use of health information technology based on the needs of the individual.The European Union and the USA collaborate in developing the skills of the application of information technology in the health care workforce. A part of this activity is a project which studies the gaps in the present education and proposes methods of filling these gaps. The objective of this paper is to identify the existing IT related education to the health care work force in Finland. A secondary objective was to get an impression of the experience and attitudes of the members of this workforce about health IT education. This paper presents the results of the survey of how information technology is educated to the students of the health care professions in Finland in the year 2017. In addition to literature search including also the study guides of many major health care professional education organizations, 24 telephone interviews of health care professionals in different fields in Finland were made. The results show that although basic information technology education is often available at every level of education, it is expected that the health care professionals learn to use the health information systems during their training periods or later in working life. The interviews showed that the given education varied considerably and some of the personnel had received no or only a little education on IT during studies. As the amount and quality of on-the-job information technology education varies, many health care professionals are not able to fully benefit from the information systems if their general feeling is that they just “survive” from daily activities with them. The results lead to suggest that the health professional degrees should contain at least a minimal amount of relevant health IT education which is tested with an exam and that the present health care workforce should receive ear-marked in-service training in the use of health information technology based on the needs of the individual

Curriculum renewal for interprofessional education in health

In this preface we comment on four matters that we think bode well for the future of interprofessional education in Australia. First, there is a growing articulation, nationally and globally, as to the importance of interprofessional education and its contribution to the development of interprofessional and collaborative health practices. These practices are increasingly recognised as central to delivering effective, efficient, safe and sustainable health services. Second, there is a rapidly growing interest and institutional engagement with interprofessional education as part of pre-registration health professional education. This has changed substantially in recent years. Whilst beyond the scope of our current studies, the need for similar developments in continuing professional development (CPD) for health professionals was a consistent topic in our stakeholder consultations. Third, we observe what might be termed a threshold effect occurring in the area of interprofessional education. Projects that address matters relating to IPE are now far more numerous, visible and discussed in terms of their aggregate outcomes. The impact of this momentum is visible across the higher education sector. Finally, we believe that effective collaboration is a critical mediating process through which the rich resources of disciplinary knowledge and capability are joined to add value to existing health service provision. We trust the conceptual and practical contributions and resources presented and discussed in this report contribute to these developments.Office of Learning and Teaching Australi

The case of veterinary interprofessional practice: From one health to a world of its own

BACKGROUND: Research regarding the veterinary professions' involvement in interprofessional practice and education (IPE), either with health care professionals as part of One Health, or specifically within the veterinary health care team, is sparse. PURPOSE: To investigate veterinary interprofessional working and learning in veterinary practices; then ultimately to make recommendations for IPE. METHOD: Two case studies in typical but contrasting practices were conducted. The study consisted of three sequential and complementary weeks: 1) observing the whole team, 2) shadowing selected focus individuals from each profession and 3) interviewing focus individuals regarding teamwork. Triangulation was achieved by synthesis of emergent themes from observational field notes and interview transcripts. DISCUSSION: Facilitators to interprofessional practices included hierarchy, trust and value, different perspectives, formal infrastructure and professionalization. Challenges included hierarchy, spatial and temporal work patterns, professional motivations, and error and blame. CONCLUSION: The veterinary and human health care fields face similar interprofessional challenges. Real life observations, as described here, can provide important insight relevant to the design of IPE initiatives

Looking to the future: Framing the implementation of interprofessional education and practice with scenario planning

Background: Adapting to interprofessional education and practice requires a change of perspective for many health professionals. We aimed to explore the potential of scenario planning to bridge the understanding gap and framing strategic planning for interprofessional education (IPE) and practice (IPP), as well as to implement innovative techniques and technology for large‑group scenario planning. Methods: A full‑day scenario planning workshop incorporating innovative methodology was designed and offered to participants. The 71 participants included academics from nine universities, as well as service providers, government, students and consumer organisations. The outcomes were evaluated by statistical and thematic analysis of a mixed method survey questionnaire. Results: The scenario planning method resulted in a positive response as a means of collaboratively exploring current knowledge and broadening entrenched attitudes. It was perceived to be an effective instrument for framing strategy for the implementation of IPE/IPP, with 81 percent of respondents to a post‑workshop survey indicating they would consider using scenario planning in their own organisations. Discussion: The scenario planning method can be used by tertiary academic institutions as a strategy in developing, implementing and embedding IPE, and for the enculturation of IPP in practice settings.Government of Western Australia, Department of Health

Improving collaborative practice to address offender mental health: criminal justice and mental health service professionals’ attitudes towards interagency training, current training needs and constraints,

Background Professionals from the mental health and criminal justice system must collaborative effectively to address offender mental health but interprofessional training is lacking. Pedagogical frameworks are required to support the development of training in this new area. Aim To inform this framework this paper explores the readiness of professionals towards interprofessional training and demographic differences in these. It explores expectations of interprofessional training, perceived obstacles to collaborative working, interprofessional training needs and challenges facing delivery. Method A concurrent mixed methods approach collected data from professionals attending a crossing boundaries interprofessional workshop. Data was collected through a combination of the RIPLS questionnaire (n=52), free text questions (n=52) and focus groups (n=6). Findings and Conclusions Mental health and criminal justice professionals’ attitudes towards interprofessional learning were positive (x=17.81; n=43). They did not see their own service as insular (x =4.02; n=44) and reported strong person centredness (x= 6.07; n=43). This suggests professionals are open to the introduction and implementation of future interprofessional training. There were no significant demographic differences in these attitudes. Professionals raised a range of generic curriculum and educator mechanisms in the development of future interprofessional training suggesting the transfer of pedagogical frameworks from established interprofessional programmes into this new arena is feasible. Context specific factors such offender national policy agendas and the challenges of user involvement using mentally ill offenders must be taken into account. Greater clarity on multi versus interprofessional training is still required with this group of professionals. Key words: mental health, offenders, criminal justice, interprofessional training

A virtual practice community for student learning and staff development in health and social work inter-professional education. Mini-project evaluation report.

Interprofessional education (IPE) has been widely advocated and developed as a means to encourage effective collaboration in order to improve public sector services. An IPE curriculum was introduced at Bournemouth University from 2005 for all nursing branches, midwifery, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, operating department practice and social work students (n=600). Challenges of this ambitious and large scale project included facilitating meaningful interprofessional learning while balancing structural complexities of professional body requirements and the logistics of large student numbers and multi-site teaching. A web-based simulated community was created, known as Wessex Bay, as a learning resource to facilitate interprofessional learning around case scenarios. An evaluation of student and staff experiences of IPE over two years, focusing principally on the use of technology in the education process was implemented. Student and staff data were collected via e-surveys, focus groups and open-ended questionnaires with additional feedback from external reviewers specifically on Wessex Bay. Qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. Whilst the findings are not claimed to be representative, they provide a rich insight into student and staff experiences of technology enhanced learning in IPE. The richness and complexity of data has led to a number of project outcomes with wide-ranging implications for interprofessional education. This research has led to the identification of three major territories of praxis in which individuals, both students and tutors, are operating in IPE, namely professional differences and identity, curriculum design and learning and teaching strategies, and technology enhanced learning. For the purposes of this report, we will discuss the findings related to student and staff experiences of technology enhanced learning in IPE. The evaluation of the findings highlighted three issues; the level of student and staff knowledge and skill in using learning technologies impacted significantly on learning; there was a need to capitalise on the use of web-based learning resources by increasing interactivity within the scenarios; and finally student and staff experiences of the learning resources was enhanced by a positive learning culture to facilitate creative use of materials. All project aims and objectives were met, and whilst more focused staff and student development in using learning technology is required, a culture of working interprofessionally among students and academic staff has begun to develop, leading to the sharing of ideas about content and learning processes. Recommendations resulting from the project include the introduction of assessed development of student and staff learning technology skills; development of more interactive web-based learning embedded within the case scenarios; and streamlining of the scenarios to provide fewer, but more developed, cases